If you’re looking for a sports playground that can satisfy competitors, offer solid tournament and event experiences and provide hours, and even days, of fun for families, athletes and visitors, look no further than Greater Fort Lauderdale.
Just north of Miami, Fort Lauderdale is known as the “Venice of America” for its 300 miles of navigable waterways. Within Broward County, there are eight beach communities, with 24 miles of beaches for all to enjoy (with more than 250 days of sunshine a year and an average year-round temperature of 75 degrees F).
The area is blessed with top-notch venues for all types of sports, including water sports, both out in nature with boating, kayaking and sailing (including the country’s largest international boat show on water), and within the confines of excellent and active aquatics facilities for swimming, diving, water polo and more.
Aquatic Sports
The Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center, located next to the International Swimming Hall of Fame, has been a staple in South Florida since it opened in 1965. Owned by the city, the facility completed major renovations two years ago, which included a new, 90-foot dive tower, the highest in the world.
“According to USA Diving, there are only two other aquatic facilities on par with our Aquatic Center, one in Russia and one in China,” says Glen Allen, vice president of sports and entertainment at Visit Lauderdale. “This provides an opportunity for us to have a unique facility, at the highest level of diving.” In addition to USA Diving competition, USA Swimming and other organizations utilize the venue.
The Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center has two competition pools, both 25 meters wide by 50 meters long. The diving well is 19.5 feet deep with platforms at 1, 3, 5, 7.5, 10, 20, 24 and 27 meters, and springboards at 1 and 3 meters. The West Competition Pool has permanent grandstand seating for 1,522 fans; portable bleacher seating is available for both the East Pool and diving well.
Greater Fort Lauderdale also offers the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex, which has a top reputation as an international training site. It has a state-of-the-art 50-meter competition pool, a 25-meter pool, separate diving well with 3-, 5-, 7.5- and 10-meter platforms, 1- and 3-meter springboards with a separate acclimation pool and a 35-foot x 66-foot teaching pool (four foot maximum depth). All pools have geothermal heating and cooling systems. The facility also features a 7,500-square-foot Fitness Center.
“We’re excited to offer these two world-class facilities that can handle any size competition and provide amazing experiences,” Allen says.
Pickleball and Tennis
Racquet and paddle sports continue to be huge in Greater Fort Lauderdale. One of the newest facilities is The Fort, a massive pickleball venue and training center with 43 dedicated courts, including 14 covered (indoor) courts and the world’s first dedicated pickleball stadium.
The Fort, a public-private partnership with the City of Fort Lauderdale, also is headquarters for the APP (Association of Pickleball Players), which provides opportunities and instruction for players of all ages and skill levels. The venue also has concessions and social spaces, including the unique Lakeside at The Fort restaurant.
In addition to hosting numerous pickleball tournaments and events, The Fort also is home to the Humana APP Fort Lauderdale Open in January, the APP Fort Lauderdale Open in April and the APP Tour Championships in December. At the end of October, The Fort will host the six-day 2025 International Pickleball Tournament–World Cup Edition, expected to bring in 3,000 athletes.
“Tennis also is big here,” says Allen. “We’ll host what is regarded as the most prestigious international youth tennis tournament, the annual Orange Bowl, in December, which will be played in Fort Lauderdale’s Holiday Park–Jimmy Evert Tennis Center for the next 10 years.”
The Holiday Park tennis venue, which is undergoing a multimillion dollar renovation that is expected to be completed this fall, has 20 clay courts. The renovations will include an updated court layout with a stadium court. Other tennis facilities in the area include numerous venues for hard court and clay court competition.
Celebrations on Ice
On the flip side of the temperature scale are ice sports. The main destination is the 144,000-square-foot Baptist Health IcePlex, which has two NHL-regulation rinks and is the training facility for the NHL’s Florida Panthers, which won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2024 and 2025.
“Visit Lauderdale is the helmet sponsor for the Florida Panthers,” Allen says, “and we were proud to be on the players’ helmets for both their Stanley Cup Championship wins.” The partnership extends to youth programming, too, and Allen says hockey programs for youngsters have been “blowing up.” For 2025, the CVB is supporting at least 15 tournaments, which has nearly doubled from the year before.
Baptist Health IcePlex also hosts multiple figure skating events. The venue includes 11 locker rooms, three multi-use party rooms, a full-service restaurant and bar with outdoor patio, and a dedicated hockey and figure skating pro shop.
Field Sports
Greater Fort Lauderdale also welcomes soccer players and fans, too. (South Florida’s Inter Miami CF club is home to the legendary Lionel Messi.) The area was one of 11 U.S. host sites for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, held in June and July, and will also host matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Inter Miami CF plays in the 21,500-seat Chase Stadium and trains next door at top-notch Florida Blue Training Center, which has seven pitches (six natural grass, one turf), a 50,000-square-foot state-of-the-art training center and a youth academy, which attracts players of all ages, from U12 to MLS.
The 7,000-seat Beyond Bancard Field at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is home to Fort Lauderdale United FC, a professional women’s soccer team in the USL Super League, along with NSU’s college teams.
The City of Lauderhill is home to Broward County Stadium at Central Broward, a 10,000-seat cricket pitch that is recognized as the first U.S. facility to be sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket are Visit Lauderdale’s main partners for the sport.
Last year, Broward County Stadium was one of three U.S. sites to host the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. “We’ve hosted some of the largest cricket brands in the world, including India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka,” Allen says. This past July, eight Major League Cricket teams came to play at Broward County Stadium.
Top Indoor Venue
For indoor competitions, the Broward County Convention Center is finishing up on a $1.2 billion expansion project, and it now boasts more than 1.2 million square feet of event space, restaurants and a six-acre outdoor plaza, and it’s connected to the 801-room Omni hotel.
Set up with 40 basketball courts, the Convention Center hosts the annual Balling on the Beach youth event over Father’s Day Weekend, a massive tournament that brings in about 30,000 people over three days.
“We have some of our biggest events here at the Convention Center,” Allen notes. “Volleyball has been huge, bringing in up to 200 teams per event. We’ve recently hosted the AAU Karate National Championships, AAU Gymnastics and the AAU Wrestling National Championships, with each event attracting about 3,000 athletes and up to 8,000 attendees.”
Broward County has about 40,000 hotel rooms to fit all tastes and all budgets and it’s easy to get to, with major highways and close proximity to three major airports.
In addition, the Port Everglades seaport in Fort Lauderdale is a gateway for cruise vacations (recently, Disney Cruise Lines became a new tenant for the port), so combining vacation time with tournament time is even easier. New in the travel mix is the convenient Brightline train service, connecting Greater Fort Lauderdale to Orlando and all its attractions.
Allen says the CVB can provide complete service to event owners, including help finding hotels, sports facilities, volunteers and vendors. There’s also a sponsorship program for event owners that can help offset costs.
“We do all we can so event owners can put on the best tournament possible for athletes, families and fans,” says Allen. SDM
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